Kevin Whitcher
Friday evening... So four years ago, to provide some content for the website during a World Cup summer, I ran a series of pieces relaying my experience of the World Cup in South Africa. I have been fortunate enough to have attended five World Cups in person, although I don't really count Germany 2006 as that was a two night, three matches, toe in the water job. My first World Cup was Italia 90 and the only one since I did not attend a single game at was USA 94. As it stands, I have no intention of attending Russia 2018, not least because I really fancy the French Euros in 2016 and pure economics play their part.
I am starting this typing on a London tube train on Friday evening, a little over an hour ago having watched Holland demolish Spain on the box. I caught a the second half of Mexico beating Cameroon on the radio and watched the opening match between Brazil and Croatia, or at least until the second half when i nodded off, to be woken by my son when there was any significant action. It had been a long day...
Currently, Australia are playing Chile, and I would be able to catch the second half of that one if it were not for the fact i will be up at 3.50am to catch a taxi to Heathrow. Even if the flight is not until 6.20, I just don't want to take a chance on being delayed at security at Heathrow. Some days, it can be very thorough and slow. I am staying tonight at Adam's in West London, to save money on the cab fare in the morning. Adam is one of my travelling companions, as he was for much of my trip to South Africa in 2010. The other is Sanj, a pal of Adam's I have met twice before. They are getting direct flights to Rio at more civilised hours and will arrive about two hours after me. I change at Madrid, but at least have a chance to catch the second half of the England v Italy game assuming there is a TV screen somewhere at Rio airport. I can't imagine there won't be.
It's been the traditional mad rush to try and do everything I needed to before departure, and inevitably failing. And at times like this, I always ask myself, why am I doing this? Why not take the easy option and relax on the sofa for a month? The answer is in the memories of the experience of seeing other countries in the context of a World Cup Final tournament. Memories of Italy, France, Japan and South Africa are those that make a life lived all the more worthwhile. To have tasted something in the flesh rather than watch it through a TV screen. With all the travelling and attending matches, one misses a lot of games. Staying on the sofa at home undoubtedly allows you to see more football. Your experience of the tournament is also very different for all kinds of reasons. It must have been plain weird in 2002 to be waking up in the morning to a live football match on the box, however, it was something I never had the joy of experiencing because I was in Japan before the first ball was kicked until after the final had been won. Gilberto Silva held together Brazil's winning midfield and was then signed by Arsenal. If you count him as an Arsenal player in 2002 (ok, you can't, but indulge me), the club have had a player or more on the pitch at the last four World Cup finals.
Unlike previous finals, logistically, and economically, my usual plan to catch a game in every stadium used has gone out of the window in Brazil. Apparently the country is 26 times bigger than the UK. The only way you can really do the distance is by plane. I simply can't afford to do more than we will be doing. We are seeing six matches in five cities, meaning five internal flights including a couple of killer over-nighters.
Through friends, a few weeks back I had a chat with a Brazilian woman who is in London for a few months studying English, and got some first hand advice. She lived in Sao Paolo, which I have been told by another Brazilian is a place to avoid. And yet, she reckoned it was one of the safer places. I will spend one night there to catch England play Uruguay. She did have plenty of advise though, summarised as follows -
Buy suntan cream before going out there. it costs a bomb
Don't keep money in your back pocket, there are expert pickpockets out there
Get to the stadiums for matches very early. There will be long delays
Get to airports for flights early. There will be long delays
Don't take buses - you will get mugged
Have a little money on you if you do get mugged. The thief is less likely to do you harm if you can give them something
If you leave any valuables in your hotel room, put the do not disturb sign on when you go out
Don't take any valuables to the beach
As far as possible, dress down, although it will be impossible to look like a native due to skintone
Don't go out on your own. You will be an immediate target.
Use taxis whenever possible
So not much to worry about there then. Of course, we had plenty of warnings about the dangers of South Africa four years ago, so the hope is that the case with Brazil is that the tournament goes well and no-one becomes a victim. It seems a long shot though. However, Adam tells me he has heard from people in Salvador that they are having a great time and things are going well. So we live in hope.
Obviously, there are anti-World Cup protests, accompanied by some heavy handed policing. It's hardly ideal, and I have to say my sympathies are with the protestors. It is obscene that the Brazilian government are spending so much money staging the tournament when there are far more fundamental problems that need addressing with government funding. But that is Brazil, a country of haves and have nots, and very little in between. At least that is my impression. I'll see the reality soon enough. There is also the ethical dilemma of attending the tournament, given the issues the country is facing. By spending money on tickets, I am effectively endorsing the spending on stadiums. Still, was the situation so different in South Africa? In fairness, there was supposed to be money spent on infrastructure which will leave a legacy more useful than new football stadiums, but corruption seems to have gotten in the way of much of that being completed.
Saturday afternoon... I am now writing this on the plane over. I had to change at Madrid, and it seems there are a lot of other English fans doing the same. We will land shortly after the England v Italy game kicks off, but apparently getting through passport control and obtaining your visa means I will be lucky to catch anything before half time. So we'll see. I will post this on Sunday as once we reach the hotel we are in for the night, one thing is certain. I will need to sleep. Three hours sleep last night, and not uninterrupted as the damned cab company sent me a text around 2am to confirm they would be picking me up at 4am, and I forgot to put the phone on silent. So, up at 4am, and by the time I reach the hotel (will await the slightly later arrival of Adam and Sanj on a later, direct flight at the airport) the time in the UK will be somewhere around 3am in the morning. I will have been up for 23 hours solid.
Sunday, we fly up to Salvador, where we catch our first game on Monday, Portugal v Germany.
Sunday morning An attempt to post what I had written up to this point has been foiled by a mix of difficulty getting online and this damned PC notebook I am using, and its issues with internet security. I have turned every type of protection off, and if it goes south, so be it. It has p***ed me off plenty so far, so I won't be too sorry to let it go. Anyhow, hopefully I have resolved things enough to post this before the day's out.
I am currently on a plane awaiting to take off, our first internal flight, from Rio to Salvador. I have made contact with a relative of the Brazilian woman that gave me all the advice mentioned earlier, and she has been good enough to respond and will collect us at the airport. My arrival at Rio yesterday evening was earlier than I expected, and despite a long queue to get the visa at passport control, I was in plenty of time to catch the England v Italy match, after catching the news that Costa Rica had defeated Uruguay. At Rio airport, there is something called a 'fun zone' - I guess calling it a fan zone would breach some FIFA copyrighted concept. Anyway, a large indoor space with a big screen to watch the matches. Perfect. I have to say, the game was an absolute cracker, and yes, England ultimately failed to convert some great opportunities, but in contrast to some of the very mediocre football we have witnessed from them in past tournaments over the last ten years plus, it was a breath of fresh air. On an Arsenal level, I had no idea who was being treated for what looked like a serious injury after the England goal, before eventually Gary Lewin's head popped up. Phew! Has to be better than a player. As I was watching a Brazilian TV channel - and I have to say the commentary was so much enjoyable than 90% of what we have to endure back home - I had no idea what had happened until I read about it later. Jack Wilshere did very little for the 20 minutes he was on and frankly, I would be surprised if he gets another opportunity in this tournament based on his contribution. He really does appear to be a player that has lost his star. Nevertheless, England can progress to their next two matches knowing they can play some decent front foot football, although the crossing will have to improve in the latter stages of matches. I will put that down to mental fatigue yesterday. It was astonishing, after all the build up to what conditions would be like in Manaus, to see such a fast paced approach from England, and at times, even Italy. A thoroughly enjoyable 90 minutes to go with others seen so far in this tournament, which augurs well.
Sanj and Adam arrived shortly after the game finished and we caught a taxi to the hotel where we would be staying for one night. As luck would have it, it was right on the Copacabana beach. Just as well we were not paying for it! In spite of fatigue, we took the opportunity to go out, sit down and have a drink at a beach bar, watch at bit of the Japan v Ivory Coast game on the TV and take a stroll down the front. The weather was balmy, in spite of it being 11 at night, there were a good number of Argentina fans partying and a good atmosphere. Brazilian drivers were tooting at Argentina fans in a friendly way, which made no sense at all, but was refreshing to see. There was a heavy police presence, I am sure to quell any possible gathering of people protesting, although one imagines that might be more likely when either there is a game in Rio (the first one being Argentina's against Bosnia this afternoon) or when Brazil themselves are playing.
More soon, internet connection and this notebook (which last saw the light of day in South Africa four years ago) willing. By the way, sorry no pic with this. It's been hard enough just getting some words posted. Just arrived at hotel and found we do not have the right adaptors for the plug sockets here, which will make life interesting. Hopeful we can source an adaptor, but it's not guaranteed!
